Liam Neeson nets a $20 million payday for his particular set of skills in Taken 3

Looks like Liam Neeson is doing some taking of his own for the next sequel in the TAKEN franchise as he's about to net $20 million to reprise his role as Bryan Mills, the CIA agent with a particular set of skills in TAKEN 3. The first film grossed $226 million worldwide (from a $25 million budget), while the sequel took in $376 million worldwide (from a $45 million budget), putting the stamp of approval on another venture into the kidnapping thriller business. Screenwriters Robert Mark Kamen and Luc Besson have already begun development on the script for TAKEN 3, but no director is attached as of yet.

Olivier Megaton, who helmed the sequel, is a likely candidate, but nothing is set in stone. I'm sure there will be a collective of eye-rolls and sigh's that this is moving forward, but you can't argue with those box office receipts. That's winning across the board. I enjoyed the first one very much, especially the director's cut, but still haven't seen the sequel, so I can't say whether it was a worthy follow up or not (although many relayed that it was not up to par). I dig Neeson and think this sudden launch into action star territory late in his career is pretty sweet. I think it's cool he's got his own franchise, even if I wish it was DARKMAN instead.

TAKEN 3 will likely get rolling within the year for release in 2014. More as this develops.